I haven't made it past the credits of #TheAdmirableCrichton (1957) yet, and already three things have struck me.

1. It has #StopPressGirl's #SallyAnneHowes in, with major billing.

1. The opening scenes running behind the credits would be a massive location shoot in some old building today, like that sort of thing was in, say, #TheFavourite (2018). They are quite obviously a massive sound stage at Shepperton Studios, with painted backdrops.

1. How to convey the ridiculous pomp of a pre-WW1 country mansion with no dialogue (loud theme music is playing) and in a few seconds: Have the job of one of the servants be to carry a tray for 3 metres between 2 other tray carriers.

#storytelling #UKMovies

There's not much to say about #IWasAMaleWarBride (1949) that has not already been said.

Yes, the setup is overlong and the hate-to-love transition does not really work. But watched the same day as #StopPressGirl (1949) it is a stark contrast.

#AnnSheridan's character is witty and competent, and stands the test of the decades quite well, as does #MarionMarshall's Kitty.

Interestingly, 20-year-old Marshall was engaged to 54-year-old director Howard Hawks the following year. Young actor has romance with older director. Yet again.

According to a biography (which I just listed on #Wikipedia, since Wikipedia's article turns out to be quite thin) Marshall lived with Hawks for some time.

Much is made of the cross-dressing in the movie, but that's actually only a small part right at the end. I suspect that the much longer motorcycle side-car scenes were intended at the time to be gender-reversal too. But looked at with 2026 eyes one just shrugs and says "What of it?".

#USMovies

#StopPressGirl, the next choice to clear out of the TiVo, was preceded by a content warning about language that some viewers might find offensive.

As the opening credits were rolling, my mind was boggling. What on Earth could be offensive about a 1949 British comedy? They are notoriously tame (except for #PassportToPimlico).

I thought that it might be #racism against Scotland, given the presence of #GordonJackson, and indeed there was one comment about Scottish people and one about Chinese.

But it was dwarfed by the #sexism. The male characters, and indeed the premise, were patronizing and chauvinistic to an extent that would have had people of the 1970s bloody annoyed; & there were some derogatory terms for women and their places in society that luckily wouldn't be recognized much today.

So credit to #TalkingPicturesTV for the warning, then. Shame on all of the IMDB reviewers for not spotting this. And a recommendation to give this a miss to everyone else. It only has 2 gags.